Highbridge Film Festival Showcases Student Work

March 21, 2011

Asbury University’s Highbridge Film Festival will inspire an audience with redemptive entertainment — and encourage young filmmakers that they have both a voice and a story to tell — on April 16 at the Hughes Auditorium. General admission tickets are available online at www.asbury.edu/highbridge for $10 and include a reception at the Andrew S. Miller Center for Communication Arts on the Wilmore campus.

The Highbridge Film Festival will take place in Hughes Auditorium on the Wilmore campus.

The brainchild of Asbury University Professors Greg Bandy and Jeff Day, the festival started with a few hundred students in attendance in 2005; today it has grown into an elaborate night including a reception, drawing more than 1,000 arts enthusiasts. Awards for the films include Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Audience Choice. All films are subject to a time limit of eight minutes for a narrative, 10 minutes for a documentary and three minutes for a super short.

In the course of five years, the Highbridge Film Festival has attracted judges such as Emmy-award winning composer Bruce Broughton, L.A. casting director Beverly Holloway and the CEO of Walden Media, Michael Flaherty.

“I think that nothing can be more redeeming for culture than to give it hope through great stories,” Flaherty says.

In the midst of growing critical acclaim, the films and event continue to be completely produced by students, providing an opportunity for students to work behind the scenes, as well as the college and high school students submitting their films.

“Highbridge was a great learning experience for me,” says Zack Meiners ‘12, a current entrant and previous Highbridge winner. “I caught a glimpse of how my films could impact the lives of others.”

Bandy teaches the class in charge of producing the festival.

“When we started this film festival, we wanted to give students a creative, educational experience to tell visual stories,” he says. “We also wanted to share the fruits of the students’ hard work with as large of an audience as possible.”

This year, the class is putting special emphasis on reaching out to the greater Lexington community to ensure that audience keeps growing.